Grammar Police Undercover: Pet Peeves At The Donut Shop

I’ve admitted it before: I love words, and, conversely, it causes me physical discomfort (and even agitation) when simple grammatical phrases are misused, abused, and generally disrespected by the very professionals who are (ostensibly) supposed to treat them kindly. One of the more popular commercials that aired for the Super Bowl this year was notable […]

 

Adverbs and Adjectives are NOT Your Friends

Okay, maybe they are friends, but let’s agree to classify them as the kind of friends you invite to your house and after a half-hour spend the rest of the night hatching different plans to get them to leave. Seriously. Too many writers, particularly when starting out, think that the more they sprinkle their prose […]

 

Post-Turkey, Black Friday, Gobble-Gobble-to-Write-Better Blog

I intended to blog on Thanksgiving—any excuse in the eye of the blog storm, where there are NO POSTS—but when my Dallas Cowboys finally pulled their collective heads out of the Devil’s…I mean, primo narcissist, Jerry Jones’ arsehole, and started putting away the lowly Raiders, I became too involved with watching that and stuffing my […]

I Admit It: I’m An Abuser. Of Semicolons

On June 17, 2013, in Grammar Police, Opinion, Proofreading, The Semicolon, Tools, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

Actually only by the strictness of grammatical standards. I’m not a contrarion just because I want people to think I’m cool. When I write, it’s not a decision process—its art. I do what comes naturally to me. That doesn’t mean everyone is going to get it (or like it) but it’s not to be different; […]

 

All For One, One For All: Not Just A Cliché

My first non-fiction book on writing is blog-touring for a couple of weeks, so I felt it was fitting to also post said blog here, in my own personal space, exactly as (hopefully) printed on the other sites. I hope you writers out there read this. I wrote this book for YOU. I don’t know […]

 

Word Count, In A Word? Worthless.

As most of you know from previous posts, comments I’ve made, and for the mind-readers out there, that I believe the faithful old writer’s term “word count” is about as useful to the quality of a book as is the words “pigeon shit”. Now pardon my New York Central Park language, but what in the […]

 

Myriad Reasons To Read This Post (And One For Me To Feel Like A Chowderhead)

On April 27, 2013, in Grammar Police, Learning Challenges, Mea Culpa, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

Nah, there’s really only one, but if you’re a writer, it’s a big one (and a reason that wakes many in a cold sweat): you don’t want to look as if you don’t know your own profession. Quick pop quiz: Which of the sentences below is correct? There are a myriad of reasons to be […]

 

Writer / Editor Russell Rowland

On February 20, 2013, in Great Reads, Guest Posts, Interviews, Proofreading, RUSSELL ROWLAND, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

Today I am interviewing my own EDITOR for this blog post! (What was he thinking agreeing to this golden opportunity for ME? Wait a minute—what was I thinking? He could triple my rates!) In all seriousness, Russell Rowland is a successful, extremely talented writer as well as having one of the best eyes for “seeing” […]

 

Don’t Get Fooled Again (By The Ridiculousness Of “Word Count”)

On July 30, 2012, in Indie Authors, Opinion, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

Did you ever, even once in your life, dismiss a song you loved because its length didn’t meet some standard you’d been convinced by the culture is appropriate for a particular style of music? I grow weary (and even a bit perturbed) at hearing writers talk about their books in terms of size (i.e. word […]

 

How To Write The Best Book You Can Possibly Write, With No Guarantees

On July 25, 2012, in Encouragement for Indies, Indie Authors, Reviewers, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

You’ve taken the classes, attended the workshops, read every Writer’s Digest book they’ve put on the market. You’ve written, and written, and then when you thought the calluses couldn’t get any harder on the ends of your fingers, you wrote some more. You’ve suffered the rejection slips. Oh, how those rejection slips sting. To hell […]